Are bridal portraits before the wedding worth doing?

Texas/southern tradition. Done less in the rest of the US but increasingly common as a "pre-wedding portrait" trend.

What you're actually buying: an unrushed 90-min session in your dress where you can do everything that gets cut on the wedding day. Detail shots, multiple locations, dress in motion. Wedding day portraits are fast and competing with 50 other things.

Where it pays off:

• You get a 24x36 framed print for the venue entry table. Guests see it as they walk in.
• You can print and frame for parents/grandparents as gifts.
• The dress is pristine. By 10pm on the wedding day it has cake on it.
• You get to "wear the dress" without the pressure of the day.

Where it doesn't: if you're cost-conscious and your photographer already does extensive bridal coverage on the wedding day. Some packages include 60+ portrait shots; if so, the additional 20-30 from a separate session may be diminishing returns.

The Texas-specific thing: framed bridals at the reception entrance is a regional convention. Outside Texas, that part isn't expected.